News Release

Recipients Include Public Agencies, Private Non-profit Organizations, Federally Recognized Indian Tribes, and Owners of Rental and Cooperative Housing

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today selected 163 recipients in 50 states and the commonwealth of Puerto Rico for grants to repair and improve housing for low- and very-low-income rural residents. USDA's Rural Housing Administrator Tammye Treviño announced the grant recipients on behalf of Secretary Vilsack during a speech in Boston today to the National Council of State Housing Agencies.

"The Obama Administration is working to ensure that rural homeowners have safe, sanitary, energy-efficient places to live, and USDA is working with community organizations and non-profit groups to help people make needed repairs," Vilsack said.

Housing Preservation Grants are provided to intermediaries such as town or county governments, public agencies, federally recognized Indian Tribes, and non-profit and faith-based organizations. The grants are then distributed from intermediaries to homeowners or owners of multi-family rental properties or cooperative dwellings who rent to low- and very-low-income residents. The grants may be used to make general repairs such as installing or improving plumbing or providing or enhancing access to people with disabilities. Funds can also be used to weatherize and make homes more energy-efficient.

For example, in Massachusetts, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission is being selected for a $36,000 grant to help rural residents near the greater Springfield area in Western Massachusetts make health, safety and other repairs to their homes. Greater Greenville Housing & Revitalization Association, Inc., in Greenville, Miss., is being selected to receive a $125,000 grant to repair 16 single-family homes in Washington County. Cherokee Nation in Tahlequah, Okla., is selected to receive a $43,765 grant to provide rehabilitation assistance to homeowners.

USDA Rural Development's Housing Preservation Grants are often combined with state and local funds. In 2009, the city of Fayette, Miss., in Jefferson County, received a $75,643 grant to repair and rehabilitate several homes, including that of Willie Henry Reed. Mr. Reed has been confined to a wheelchair since 1982 and lacked access to certain rooms in his home. His home also had a leaking roof due to storm damage. Thanks to the USDA grant and $87,000 provided by the Mississippi Development Authority, Reed's home was remodeled with two additional bathrooms and bedrooms. One of the new bathrooms is in Reed's bedroom and is fully handicapped accessible. The kitchen was also retrofitted to allow Reed access. Three more homes are being repaired with the remaining funds.

The following is a complete list of organizations that have been selected to receive funding under USDA Rural Development's Housing Preservation Grants Program. Funding is contingent upon the recipient meeting the terms of the grant agreement.

Through its Rural Development mission area, USDA administers and manages more than 40 housing, business and community infrastructure and facility programs through a network of 6,100 employees located in the nation's capital and 500 state and local offices. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers, and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America. Rural Development has an existing portfolio of more than $142 billion in loans and loan guarantees.